for a while i've been saying that members of the bush administration should avoid traveling to other countries after they left office because they risked international prosecution. that appears to be happening. i doubt if these prosecutions will really ever happen. but it will put these five individuals in an uncomfortable position. in addition to limiting their ability to travel, it's a pretty major black mark on their record which could also affect their lives right here in the u.s. for example, if berkley decides to follow this precedent, it could jeopardize john yoo's job.
the obama administration should also take note. the policies they are now defending are not the same as the ones that got the bush administration officials into legal trouble. but the current administration seems to be embracing an expansive view of executive power that led to the abuses of the prior administration. it's not clear to me at all why they would want to walk down this potentially dangerous path. unlike the bush administration, the obama administration has not given any broad justification for its stance on these cases. in fact, its position on habeas corpus and state secrets directly contradicts some of obama's public pronouncements on those issues.
